Feel free to add your own...

Hi all -

I know this is tough times in the country and in Michigan especially,
but as an arts worker and supporter, please take a look and take a
moment to contact the governor. I know many of you have moved away,
but you have friends and family in Michigan...so please pass this onto
them! And if you have questions, please let me know.

Arts funding in Michigan is getting screwed. The Governor has
recommended that nearly ALL grant funding for arts organizations get
pulled from the budget next year. Michigan is already dead last in the
amount of state support given to the arts, with around $7.5 million in
grants given out last year to museums, theaters, orchestras, etc...all
non-profit organizations by the way. The Governor did this after
numerous promises to not touch arts funding. The Governor has gone
back on her word (I know, a politician going back on their
word...shocking!)

This is going to have a lot of ripple effects, beyond your local artsy
fartsy film house cutting back or closing down. THIS IS ABOUT REAL
JOBS. For starters, this cut in support shows that the state does not
value jobs in the arts. This cut in funding is going to cost people
their jobs as many small non-profits rely on this funding to stay
alive and hire people. So the electricians, ticket takers, janitors,
web designers and every other job that goes along with producing,
exhibiting and promoting the arts will be affected (see below for
statistics). This is not to mention artists directly being affected as
venues close and they lose places to practice their profession. Think
about how this will affect the perception of our state to potential
companies and residents if the arts start to disappear from our
communities. It's not going to be pretty, I guarantee you that.

So off my soap box. If you live in Michigan or know anyone who does,
please tell them to do some complaining to the Governor's office ASAP.
It's SO easy to do with newfangled lobbying technology so all they/you
have to do is click on this link:

http://capwiz.com/artsusa/mi/issues/ale ... d=12673381

Feel free to add in your own comments, but this is about quantity, the
more response Granholm gets the more likely she is to actually pay
attention.

Thanks,
Melissa

Come celebrate the life and memory of Ben Schaafsma.

A portion of the evenings proceeds will be donated to Ben Schaafsma's family and will be used to cover costs associated with his passing.

As part of the benefit night, there will be a potluck (also at The Meanwhile) starting at 7pm. Bring a dish to pass!

Two of Ben's favorite drinks will be on special for $3; pints of Bell's Two Hearted Ale and Vern Ehlers (whiskey & gingerale)!

Article in Rapid Growth:
http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/gsync.aspx?utm_campaign=It%27s%20a%20Wonderful%20West%20Michigan&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_term=read%26nbsp;more

Top Ten Things to Tell/Ask Sarah Palin

1. You wouldn't be where you are if it wasn't for community organizers (suffragists etc).

2. Just because you are the first woman VP candidate doesn't make you a feminist.

3. How can you simultaneously want a hands-off government, yet support laws on my body?

4. How can you simultaneously believe in killing animals and carrying guns and be pro-life?

5. How can you live in Alaska, full of wildlife, and not believe that pollution is wrong?

6. Why do you believe in 'abstinence only education,' your daughter obviously didn't get the message??

7. How can you look yourself in the mirror everyday when you don't believe in abortions for victims of rape or incest?

8. How can you care for a disabled child and not believe in universal health care for all?

9. To be a true patriot is to stand up to the powers that be to make things right, not stand as a pawn for the status quo.

10. Jesus was a community organizer.

i went into it with some skepticism, i mean lets face it - its called 'knocked up' of all things, but i was curious to see if the director realized how despicable the title is...

so needless to say i hated the basis of it, i mean the movie bothered me for like a whole week after i saw it. i did laugh out loud during several scenes, but i could not relate with the men in the audience who went into roars of laughter every time someone sad vagina in a clever sentence while taking a bong hit...then i read this article that hits the nail on the head: Article

People brush off Michigan's economic recession like it is not particular to the state...like we are all in this together. But, I can tell its not as bad here in Chicago.

There was an article when I first arrived here that was on the front page of the newspaper. It described how Chicago's soup kitchens were starting to need more donations for the hungry. I couldn't help but think about how Michigan's shelters and soup kitchens have been struggling for years.

I dont think people really realize how bad it really is in Michigan, or rather, how good they really have it in their state.

I read an article late last year that said Michigan was no longer in a one state recession, but now in a depression- with unemployment levels that haven't been seen since post WWII and that unemployment would continue to get worse for the following two years.

I was also under the impression that Michigan was tied in first place with Mississippi or Alabama for highest unemployment, but Michigan recently took the lead.

This March 8th report describes Michigan as having the highest unemployment rate in the country. I can't help but feel like Michigan's economic struggle is being largely ignored, like most of the other national disasters right now, and that our government is in need of a major reality check.

Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly differ-
ent from that of the U.S., January 2007, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------
State | January 2007
-----------------------------|--------------------------------
United States................| 4.6
|
Alabama .....................| 3.3
Alaska ......................| 6.4
Delaware ....................| 3.4
District of Columbia ........| 6.1
Florida .....................| 3.3
Hawaii ......................| 2.2
Idaho .......................| 3.0
Iowa ........................| 3.4
Kentucky ....................| 5.6
Maryland ....................| 3.8
Michigan ....................| 6.9
Mississippi .................| 6.2
Montana .....................| 2.7
Nebraska ....................| 3.0
New Hampshire ...............| 3.7
New Mexico ..................| 3.8
North Dakota ................| 3.2
Ohio ........................| 5.3
Oklahoma ....................| 3.8
South Carolina ..............| 6.4
South Dakota ................| 3.3
Utah ........................| 2.6
Vermont .....................| 4.0
Virginia ....................| 2.8
Wyoming .....................| 2.6
--------------------------------------------------------------
View the full report.

Still working at the chocolate place...and still don't know my way around for the most part. I told Ben today that I am going to plaster a big Chicago map on the bedroom wall so that I can memorize it.

We saw a pink VW Bug yesterday that was a pig and was oinking out holiday music- not sure why...

Matty and Ben O. (Ben's buddies) are coming over tonight, so we'll probably go out with them. Then, for New Year's the transit is free (Ben insists its a penny a ride), so we plan on party hopping, being drunk on the train and bus,hopefully with Rowley and Michelle and some other folks.

We went to Ikea earlier in the week, which was a huge mistake. The place is fucking enormous, and way visual overload/chaotic. The floor also shakes, and we were getting kind of motion sickness. We hit a massive traffic jam on the way home to top it off. I am never shopping at Ikea again. We did pick up a coffee table, a coat rack, and a dresser for Ben. So, our apartment is lookin pretty snazzy.

That's it for now.

Ben and I went on a cleaning spree last night and sorted through all of his cd's (see forum to buy the ones he's getting rid of). It looks really nice in the living/dining room now. We created kind of a work space in the 'dining room' area...with supplies along the window ledge, so you can sit and listen to music while working.

I started at the chocolate place this past Monday, after getting into town on Sunday afternoon. So, I didn't get settled until mid/end of the week. I have been taking the train/bus to and from work, which is hard to get used to doing by myself, especially since it gets dark here around 4pm. It's about a 40 min ride to work, but it goes pretty fast if I bring something to read.

I met a couple of cool people the other night when Ben and I went out for dinner. A woman from his program was having sort of a birthday dinner at this Thai/Sushi place called Butterfly, with about 25 people. Everyone brought wine or beer since it was BYOB, and we all had a good time. Afterwards we went to a party that was way too far out of the way and ended up cutting out pretty soon after we got there and coming home. I could tell the food didn't sit well though, and I ended up waking up in the middle of the night and barfing up Pad Thai. Needless to say, I didn't eat the leftovers.

Tonight, Ben and I went to see Little Miss Sunshine at this old theatre in a predominately Latino area just west of Logan Square. It cost $3 each and we sat in a small theatre with about 15 other people who came to see the movie. It was a good laugh. I'm glad I saw it. We walked home, and everyone had their Christmas lights on in their big huge old houses along the boulevard.

It doesn't quite feel like I live here yet. It still feels like I'm visiting or something. And I still haven't really come down from my job at the clinic in GR. I think it will finally hit me when I go back to GR for xmas around the 22nd. Before then, I will turn 24 on 12/12.

So far, I haven't quite figured out if I like Chicago better than GR. They both have their good and bad things. Chicago has bike lanes and mass transit, GR is cleaner and you can return your cans for money....things like that. I'll let you know when I figure out which is more worth it.

I did go for my first bike ride in Chicago yesterday. It was pretty scary. I had no idea where we were going and I was riding a one speed with only a front break...which I have never done. We were going so fast, and it was so cold out. It also didn't help that the bike was too high up for me and riding up my crotch....pretty exhilarating.

NOVEMBER 7, 2006

Don't know who to vote for? Not sure who's running? Can't get the info you need?

Here's some links to help:

Find your polling station, whether you are registered, and how to vote at:
Michigan Secretary of State website

Find out who's on the ballot/ who's running in Kent County, how to get an absentee ballot at:
The Kent County website

Check out what proposals are on the ballot, and what they mean at:
The League of Women Voters website

Also:
Phone numbers for those needing rides to the polls...The NAACP/Urban League and APRI are offering vans: 616-243-1300 - they will begin rides at 6:30 am on Tuesday.

Numbers if anyone is concerned about voters having difficulty at their polling sites:

Jeff Smith, Community Media Center will have crews available immediately to record problems.
616-307-1686 - cell #1
616-207-1818 - cell #2

League of Women Voters, NAACP, and America Votes
1-866-OUR-VOTE
1-866-MY VOTE1
1-866-VE-Y-VOTA (Spanish language asssistance)

ACLU Voting Rights Project
1-877-523-2792

NOVEMBER 7, 2006

Don't know who to vote for? Not sure who's running? Can't get the info you need?

Here's some links to help:

Find your polling station, whether you are registered, and how to vote at:
Michigan Secretary of State website

Find out who's on the ballot/ who's running in Kent County, how to get an absentee ballot at:
The Kent County website

Check out what proposals are on the ballot, and what they mean at:
The League of Women Voters website

Also:
Phone numbers for those needing rides to the polls...The NAACP/Urban League and APRI are offering vans: 616-243-1300 - they will begin rides at 6:30 am on Tuesday.

Numbers if anyone is concerned about voters having difficulty at their polling sites:

Jeff Smith, Community Media Center will have crews available immediately to record problems.
616-307-1686 - cell #1
616-207-1818 - cell #2

League of Women Voters, NAACP, and America Votes
1-866-OUR-VOTE
1-866-MY VOTE1
1-866-VE-Y-VOTA (Spanish language asssistance)

ACLU Voting Rights Project
1-877-523-2792

African American author and feminist cultural critic bell hooks (yes, her name is spelled in lower-case)
will be speaking in a rare appearance sponsored by the West Michigan Women's Studies Council at Fountain Street Church on October 2, 2006 at 7 p.m. FREE and open to the public.

Among her over 25 books, hooks has written several groundbreaking and landmark reads on feminism such as "Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center" (when she was only 18 years old), and "Aint I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism."

In addition, she has authored several children's books including "Happy to be Nappy," about loving your hair, and a series on loving relationships of which "All About Love" is my personal favorite. More recently, she has written books on the topics of art, education, men as feminists, and black power.

You will not want to miss this!

For more on bell hooks go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks

Today, my parents cleaned out the attic which had been accumulating mostly junk for years. Among the bags and boxes they found my two brothers' and I's baby clothing. They are so evocative of a certain era, but a style that has kind of come back lately, 1/2 hippy natural hipsters or something.

Anyway, I love the images on the baby tees. I want to find them if they are still being made, or try to recreate the silkscreens. My mom used to be a midwife, and one of my brothers and I were both born at home with midwife on Giddings street.

Don't be fooled by the so-called Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) that will be on the ballot this Tuesday.

The MCRI claims to eliminate discrimination on the basis of race or gender, but would in fact
eliminate federally funded programs aimed at specific groups such as: prostate screenings, mammograms, fair housing and diversity programs, and on and on. This would have an enormous impact on our state and its diversity.

Educate yourself about the impact this proposal would have at www.oneunitedmichigan.org

Vote NO on the MCRI on August 8th.